WRITERS: Jeff Pinkner & Brian K. Vaughan DIRECTOR: Stephen Williams
CAST: Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond), Dominic Monaghan (Charlie), Jorge Garcia (Hurley), Daniel Dae Kim (Jin), Josh Holloway (Sawyer), Matthew Fox (Jack), Evangeline Lilly (Kate), Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet), Andrew Task (Older Monk), Andrew Connolly (Brother Campbell), Joanna Bool (Ruth), Jack Maxwell (Derek), Sonya Walger (Penny Widmore) & Marsha Thomason (Naomi)
Desmond convinces Hurley, Jin and Charlie to follow him on a trek through the jungle after he has a vision, while a despondent Kate turns to Sawyer for companionship after seeing Jack and Juliet together...Catch-22 is interesting for comic-book fans, in that it marks the television writing debut of writer Brian K. Vaughan, creator of such impressive comic titles like Y: The Last Man. Together with Jeff Pinkner, Vaughan takes his first stab at Lost with a Desmond-centric episode that has the conflicted Scotsman receiving more bizarre visions...
Henry Ian Cusick has been a great addition to the show as Desmond and, while I'm not sold on his sudden precognitive powers post-hatch implosion, his back-story is certainly more interesting than most. In Catch-22 we find Desmond in a monastery trying to find meaning to his life (wonder no more about his "brother" fixation, folks), while the on-island action has Desmond leading another near-daily excursion into the jungle -- this time to find a new visitor to the island...
The flashbacks this week are not the strongest for Desmond's character, although his quest for direction and answers is enjoyable enough. The most interesting moments in this episode revolve around Desmond's expedition with Jin, Hurley and Charlie -- particularly as the threat of Charlie's death lurks around every corner. How long can Charlie possibly avoid his grisly fate? Will Desmond's visions prove to be infallable, or can the future be altered indefinitely?
It was also nice to have a genuinely interesting subplot running parallel to events (instead of a distracting sidenote), with Kate becoming increasingly jealous over Jack's relationship with Juliet... and taking refuge with Sawyer. It's good, solid character-based drama that worked wonderfully and allowed Josh Holloway to again steal every scene he's in. A sequence with Sawyer playing table tennis with Jack (Matthew Fox) is also nicely handled by both actors, who have a sparky chemistry together.
Pinkner and Vaughan's script is well-constructed and held my interest, although Desmond's visions are becoming more of a crutch for the writers these days. Catch-22 is a decent episode, enlivened by Desmond's quest to find his girlfriend Penny (who he thinks is about to arrive on the island to rescue him, but perhaps only if Charlie is sacrificed...) The flashbacks aren't the most involving in recent weeks, but the jungle expedition is a fun Boy's Own Adventure and the Kate/Jack/Sawyer/Juliet "love square" continues to develop very nicely.
